Managing supplier invoices in YouInv

Key takeaways

• Managing supplier invoices in YouInv means centralising import, reading, tracking and export in a single purchase register.
• Four channels feed that register: file upload, e-mail attachment, mobile capture and direct receipt over the Peppol network.
• Automatic extraction reads the supplier, the VAT and the totals, and recomputes the totals from the lines.
• A supplier IBAN that changes is flagged, never silently overwritten: a safeguard against payment-redirection fraud.

Issuing your invoices only solves half the accounting work. The other half is supplier invoices: the purchase documents that arrive by e-mail, by post or, since 1 January 2026, directly in structured form over the Peppol network, according to the FPS Finance. Properly managing supplier invoices means collecting them without re-keying, reading their data, and keeping them ready for VAT and for your accountant. This article shows how YouInv covers that flow, from import to tracking.

Why centralise your purchase invoices

A misfiled purchase invoice costs twice: a forgotten deductible VAT amount, then a document you cannot find on the day of an audit. The problem is not volume but dispersion, across inbox, drawer and spreadsheet. Centralising documents in a single register means finding every invoice, every due date and every supporting file in one place.

The B2B mandate also changes the receiving side. A VAT-registered business must now be able to receive a structured e-invoice, not only issue one. For the framework of that receipt, see receiving e-invoices.

Four ways to import a supplier invoice

Import has no single channel, because your suppliers do not all send the same way. YouInv accepts four entry points, all feeding the same purchase register and the same automatic reading.

The supplier-invoice import channels

• File upload

  You drop a PDF or image from the purchases screen; the invoice is read and offered as a draft.

• E-mail attachment

  Invoices received by e-mail are processed automatically, with no manual upload.

• Mobile capture

  From the app, you photograph a receipt or a paper invoice, which stays pending until you confirm it before it enters the books.

• Peppol receipt

  Your supplier's structured invoice arrives directly over the network, with no file to handle.

The Peppol channel is the one spreading with the B2B mandate. The invoice arrives already structured: its data is usable without optical reading, because the supplier produced it in the Peppol BIS format. To understand that format, see Peppol BIS Billing 3.0: what the format contains.

Reading the data automatically

For a PDF or an image, the challenge is turning a document meant for the eye into usable data. YouInv reads the document and extracts the supplier, the date, the lines, the VAT breakdown and the totals, then presents you with a purchase draft to check.

1. 1

   Upload or receipt

   The invoice enters through one of the four channels; a till receipt is recognised as such.

2. 2

   Data extraction

   Supplier, date, lines, VAT rates and totals are read off the document.

3. 3

   Supplier matching

   The supplier is recognised by its VAT number, name or website, or created if it is new.

4. 4

   Draft to confirm

   You review and confirm; the purchase enters the books only after validation.

Two design choices are worth knowing. First, totals are recomputed from the lines, never copied from the figures read: a reading error on an amount does not propagate into your accounts. Second, the VAT rate read is tied to one of your company's rates, which keeps the breakdown consistent from one invoice to the next, including under reverse charge (see VAT reverse charge in Belgium).

Detecting a change of IBAN

One detail of purchase management protects your cash: tracking the supplier's bank details. YouInv keeps, for each supplier, the reference IBAN, and separately keeps the account printed on each invoice. Comparing the two makes a change of account visible.

The first IBAN seen for a supplier becomes the reference. If a later invoice shows a different IBAN, YouInv flags it and never replaces the reference on its own: validating a new account number stays a human decision. It is a direct defence against payment-redirection fraud, where a fake supplier slips its own IBAN onto an otherwise credible invoice.

Centralise your supplier invoices without re-keying

YouInv imports, reads and tracks your purchase invoices, and keeps them ready for VAT and your accountant.

Create an accountSee pricing

Tracking, categorising and exporting

Once a purchase is recorded, it enters a tracking flow. Each invoice carries a status, from receipt to payment, and is filed under a category. The register acts as the inbound purchase journal that Belgian bookkeeping expects (see the inbound and outbound invoice journals).

A comparison with manual handling makes the gap concrete.

When it is time to close VAT or hand over to the accountant, the export pulls purchases from the same filters as the list, in CSV, Excel or PDF, and can bundle the supporting documents. The documents kept retain their evidential value; for the retention period and format, see archiving your e-invoices.

Further reading

• Receiving e-invoices: the receiving obligation and how to set it up.
• Automating your invoicing with YouInv: the other half of the flow, on the sales side.
• Bank reconciliation: matching payments to your purchase and sales invoices.

The reference source prevails: the FPS Finance official portal einvoice.belgium.be.

How do I import a supplier invoice into YouInv?

You have several channels: drop the file (PDF or image) from the purchases screen, forward an e-mail attachment to a dedicated address, photograph a receipt from the mobile app, or receive your supplier's structured invoice directly over the Peppol network. Every channel feeds the same purchase register.

Does YouInv read a supplier invoice's data automatically?

Yes. When you import a PDF or image, extraction reads the supplier, the date, the lines, the VAT breakdown and the totals, then creates a purchase draft for you to confirm. Totals are recomputed from the lines rather than taken as read, to avoid propagating a reading error.

Do I need to receive supplier invoices over Peppol in 2026?

Since 1 January 2026, invoices between VAT-registered businesses established in Belgium are structured e-invoices exchanged by default over Peppol, according to the FPS Finance. A business must therefore be able to receive these invoices, not just issue them.

Does YouInv detect a change to a supplier's account number?

Yes. The first IBAN read for a supplier becomes the reference. If a later invoice shows a different IBAN, YouInv flags it without overwriting the reference: confirming a new account stays a human decision. It is a safeguard against payment-redirection fraud.

Can I export my purchase invoices to my accountant?

Yes. YouInv exports purchases to CSV, Excel or PDF from the same filters as the list, and can bundle the supporting documents into an archive. The export follows a single column set, so your accountant always finds the same structure.